Today, the EPA website was updated to include the results from additional samples collected at the Murphy Oil Site in New Orleans. EPA is overseeing Murphy Oil’s sampling activities of residential and other properties as part of two ongoing efforts.
The first set of samples relates to ongoing activities to assess the level of contamination at sampling sites. Ten percent of the samples Murphy collects are split between Murphy and EPA and EPA sends the split samples for independent analysis. To date, Murphy has collected 8097 sediment samples from 4859 properties. EPA has sent 844 of those samples for separate analyses. The results for the first 835 samples have been received, evaluated and posted.
Additional soil samples are taken after cleanup at each property to confirm that LDEQ’s Risk Evaluation/Corrective Action Program (RECAP) standards have been met. Ten percent of the confirmatory samples Murphy collects are split between Murphy and EPA and the EPA sends those split samples for independent analysis. Forty-six samples have been sent for analysis and EPA has received, evaluated and posted the results for 40 samples. The levels of compounds detected in the samples were below their respective RECAP standards.
For more information on these results, go to: epa.gov/katrina/testresults/murphy/index.html